Over the past few years, Zevia, a soda brand主打“更健康” positioning itself as "radically real" against artificial sodas, has often used AI topics in its marketing to speak out—fromCoca-Cola's AI-driven ads, tothe growing presence of AI technology in the corporate world, all of which have been targets of its mockery. Earlier this year, the brand alsocalled on consumersto "quit" artificial sodas through a campaign called "Ztox," placing branded trash bins and a garbage truck in downtown Atlanta, where Coca-Cola is headquartered.

The results are as real as its ingredients: Zevia'snet sales grew 21.2% year-over-year in Q1 2026, reaching $46.1 million. The company attributes this growth to recent marketing initiatives, new product innovations, and distribution network expansion.

To support growth, Zevia in Marchpartnered with Cardi B, who joined as a shareholder and brand ambassador. In addition to sponsoring the rapper's "Little Miss Drama Tour," the brand will feature Cardi B in its summer campaign, including ad films, social content, retail displays, and tastings. Although the major campaign has not fully rolled out, the partnership is already showing early results—the announcement alonegenerated 152 million editorial impressions in the first week。

Executives explained on the earnings call that Zevia hasdoubled its marketing spend as a percentage of revenue over the past two years. In Q1 2026, the company's marketing investment accounted for 11.2% of net sales—down from 16.2% in the same period last year—but the company plans to concentrate most of its marketing budget in Q3 to align with the Cardi B campaign and the launch of new packaging and flavors.

Marketing Dive spoke with Zevia's Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Suarez. Suarez joined Zevia in 2023, having previously held marketing roles at Taco Bell and Procter & Gamble. She shared how the beverage brand finds its place in a crowded market, how it handles competitive "call-outs," and what to expect from the Cardi B partnership.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MARKETING DIVE: When you joined the brand nearly three years ago, what stage was it at?

KIRSTEN SUAREZ:Zevia had been around for about two decades and had a fairly good product-market fit. It already had a significant number of stores, distribution channels, retail outlets, and e-commerce customers, but frankly, brand building was not mature.

I thought this product had many advantages that weren't yet widely known. How do you build a brand around the product's essence that is recognizable and differentiated within the category, and connect it to the product's authentic attributes? That has always been the focus: establishing brand strategy, building the team, and creating the marketing ecosystem and flywheel. Some of the recent results stem from these three priorities.

How does Zevia position itself in a rapidly crowding beverage market?

Our primary focus is undoubtedly soda. Zevia is a true pioneer in applying stevia to beverages. Compared to peers, our ingredient list is the cleanest, with no artificial ingredients. We excel in classic soda flavors—these may go by different names, but they're often flavors people remember, or products they once loved but now avoid due to certain ingredients—and they can find a substitute in Zevia.

We're also continuously innovating with newer, fruit-forward flavors. When talking to consumers, we find that many drink multiple beverages across different occasions, but for them, Zevia is a "treat" they can enjoy guilt-free, in some cases replacing a habit they might have formed in the past. They still get flavor satisfaction while feeling good.

How does Zevia connect AI with artificial ingredients?

Soda is a category with significant cultural importance. I've worked at brands with much larger budgets that could achieve all their reach through paid media. But for a growing brand like ours, the challenge is more real. When developing brand strategy, we think about what the product's true essence is and what's happening in culture—is there a strategic intersection between the two?

Sometimes we play with AI, but it's less about commenting on AI itself and more about using it to comment on the concept of "artificial." What topics are people discussing? Where can we insert ourselves and offer them something interesting to consume and engage with? We've found this connection works well—it reaches entertaining or engaging content while also giving us the chance to succinctly say, "This is what Zevia stands for," gradually building awareness and memory structures.

Speaking of your experience at big brands, what are the challenges and opportunities of being a smaller brand?

We do pride ourselves on being faster and leaner. What are the things you don't need to have because you're "smarter," and that actually become your advantage? We strive to be efficient in approval processes. The social team is creative and has a lot of autonomy. We discuss directions upfront, but we don't put every post and creative through layers of approval—that would kill creativity, slow us down, and make us miss opportunities.

We're also in a learning culture. Not every attempt has to succeed—frankly, if everything succeeded, it might mean we're not doing enough, not trying enough, or not being bold enough creatively. I often tell the team that the part I love most about this job is also the hardest part, but it's also what makes it fun for everyone here.

Zevia has "called out" competitors in Atlanta—how do you handle competitive confrontations?

The key is: don't do it just for the sake of doing it. That's what I always emphasize to the team. When there's a genuinely interesting moment and we have a reason to act, that's the time to discuss it. The "enemy" in our work is the concept of "artificial" or "fake." But there are moments when we appear as a challenger to the industry and category because we judge that people will enjoy it and resonate with it. If you trace back to the brand's roots, it does connect to our founding purpose, but more importantly—don't get caught up in industry insider talk. What do people actually care about?

How did the partnership with Cardi B come about?

Finding a partner with real cultural influence can obviously help us commercially and in marketing, but we wanted someone open to non-traditional partnership models and willing to commit long-term. We signed a two-year deal, not a short-term "shoot one ad, spend one production day together and it's over" arrangement.

From a brand fit perspective, we wanted someone who could uphold "authenticity" as much as we do, and we believe no one is more suitable than her. From a social influence standpoint... compared to our paid media reach, how much incremental organic reach can we generate through cultural attention and her own social influence?

We're working with her on the campaign and a series of content, while also thinking about how to integrate into retail and how to link with product development. We're very excited about her "realness"—I try not to use that word; it's overused. But combined with the message we want to convey and the long-term nature of the partnership—she does hold equity—both sides are motivated to drive Zevia's growth together.